CraftConnections

About CraftConnections

CraftConnections is a daily grouping puzzle built around Minecraft, following the format of the New York Times game Connections. Each day gives you a grid of sixteen tiles, shown with the game's block and item art as well as their names, and your job is to sort them into the four hidden groups of four that belong together.

The groupings lean on how things work in Minecraft: mobs, tools, ores, villager professions, blocks of one colour, items from one biome and so on. Some tiles look as if they fit two groups, which is the trap. You select four tiles and submit; a correct group locks in with its label, and a wrong one costs one of your four mistakes. Use all four mistakes and the puzzle ends and shows the answers.

Puzzles are numbered and the same for everyone on a given day, and many are submitted by players and credited by name. There is an archive of past puzzles to play, buttons to shuffle or clear your selection, and a stats view for your history. The puzzle turns over at midnight Eastern time.

It is free, carries ads, and needs no account. It suits Minecraft players who know the game's blocks and mobs well and enjoy the lateral thinking of Connections.

How to play CraftConnections

1. Look at the sixteen Minecraft tiles, each shown with its art and name.
2. Work out the four groups of four that belong together, by type, colour, use or source.
3. Select four tiles you think form a group and press Submit.
4. A right group locks in with its label; a wrong one costs one of your four mistakes.
5. Sort all four groups before the mistakes run out, then share your result.

Tips

• Start with the group you are surest of to shrink the grid and avoid overlaps.
• Watch for tiles that could fit two groups: they usually belong to the less obvious one.
• Use Shuffle to see the tiles in a new arrangement when you are stuck.
• Colour sets are common, so group by shade (all the purple blocks, all the red ones) as a first pass.

Questions